Golf putter



y 1958 T. G. SCHMIDT 2,843,384

GOLF PUTTER Filed Oct. 31, 1955 INVENTOR.

Y flylwym Theadare 6. Schmidt United States Patent GOLF PUTTER Theodore G. Schmidt, Greenville, Mich. Application October 31, 1955, Serial No, 543,735 3 Claims. (Cl. 273--80) The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in golf clubs generally and more particularly to that type of club generally known as a putter.

An important object of the invention is to design a golf putter in which the grip, stance, and the stroking of the ball by the putter will become more standardized to improve accuracy in the stroking of the ball.

Another object of the invention is to construct a golf putter for swinging with a pendulum movement from a position with the eyes of the golfer directly above the ball whereby the ball will be aligned with the cup with greater accuracy and the stroke delivered to the ball with less tendency on the part of the golfer to move his head or body to thus increase accuracy in the path followed by the ball.

A still further object of the invention is to construct a golf putter with a relatively short shaft and handle whereby the stroking of the ball may be better controlled.

An additional object is to provide a device of this character of simple and practical construction, which is neat and attractive in appearance, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

These together with other objects and advantages which Will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the golf putter in use;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view; and

Figures 4, and 6 are transverse sectional views of the hand grip taken respectively on the lines 4--4, 5-5 and 66 of Figure 3.

Referring now to the drawing in detail wherein for the purpose of illustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 designates the golf putter generally and which comprises a shank 6 having its lower end rigidly secured in a socket 7 which extends upwardly from the center of a polygonally-shaped head 8.

The front surface or putting face of the club head is preferably rectangular in shapev with the lower portion thereof positioned horizontally and the bottom 10 of the club head slopes upwardly toward the rear thereof, as shown more clearly at 10 in Figure 2 of the drawing.

The upper portion of the shaft 6 is diametrically enlarged to form a hand-grip portion 11 and the lower side portion of the hand-grip is flattened as shown at 12 while a diametrically opposite side of the handgrip is flattened adjacent its upper end, as shown at 13. The hand-grip is covered by a leather or other suitable wrapping 14 and which also covers the lower and upper flattened portions 12 and 13.

In using the putter the lower portion of the handgrip 11 is gripped in the right hand of a person with the palm of the hand engaging the rounded surface of the hand-grip and the fingers engaging the lower flattened surface 12, as shown in Figure l of the drawing. The arm extends substantially parallel to the hand-grip and with the upper flattened surface 13 held against the forearm. The other hand grips the upper portion of the hand-grip.

The golf club is then held with the shaft 6 substantially perpendicularly and equidistantly between the legs of the person and the golf club is then swung in the manner of a pendulum to stroke the ball. The upwardly sloping bottom 10 of the club head 8 enables the club head to be held close to the surface of the ground and with the heel portion of the club head maintained clear of the ground as the club head swings forwardly in its arc. The base or bottom of the club head is thus prevented from being dragged over the ground while stroking the ball to thus prevent interference with the forward swinging of the club head in a straight line.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1, A putter comprising a shaft which is appreciably shorter than that used in constructing the conventional putter shaft, said shaft being essentially cylindrical in cross-section and including a lower longitudinally flattened finger gripping area and an upper flattened arm contacting area at dimetrically opposite sides of the handgrip, said lower flattened area being adapted for gripping by the fingers of one hand of a user and said upper flattened area being of a length to rest firmly against the forearm of said one hand, and a club head carried by the lower end of the shaft and comprising a polygonally-shaped body to the top central portion of which the shaft is secured in a perpendicular position.

2. The construction of claim 1, wherein said club head includes a front face of rectangular shape with the longitudinal axis thereof positioned horizontally and said club head having a bottom sloping rearwardly and upwardly toward the rear face of said head to gradually reduce the thickness of the club head toward its rear face and to provide for clearance and to more effectively control the back swing and follow-through when stroking a golf ball in a pendulum movement of the over-all putter.

3. A putter through the medium of which a user thereof may resort to and employ a pendulum movement and during which more effective control over the arcuate back swing and correspondingly arcuate forward followthrough may be relied upon and utilized, a club head having a flat-front substantially rectangular ball impact surface, a spaced parallel veritcal rear surface and a bottom surface sloping rearwardly and upwardly toward said rear surface and assisting the user in providing for ground clearance while pursuing the intended back swing and follow-through movements of said head, and a shaft attached at its lower end to the head and extending centrally above the head, said shaft being of a length appreciably less than the length of the shaft in a conventional-type putter construction, said shaft embodying a hand-grip starting a short distance above the club head and extending to the upper end of the shaft, the lower portion of said hand-grip on one side *being flat lengthwise and the diametrically opposite side being part-cylindrical whereby to allow the user to catch hold of said lower portion with the fingers resting against the flat side, the upper end portion of said hand-grip having a lengthwise flattened surface of one side diametrically opposite to the first named flattened surface and part cyl indrical on its diamet'rically opposite surface, said upper-flattened portion being of a length and such that it may be caused to rest against the forearm of a hand holding-the club. I

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Righter May 25, 1915 Smith Aug. 23, 1927 Lussky et a1 Nov. 27, 1934 Stasser June 18, 1940 

